Xiaomi's RedMi Note soon available in Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Mainland-based Xiaomi Inc. (小米) is expected to launch its latest budget smartphone RedMi Note Enhanced Version on the PC Home Online (網路家庭) website in late June, Xiaomi said on Monday.

Xiaomi is one of China's start-up smartphone vendors that designs, develops and sells smartphones and mobile apps, as well as consumer electronics.

Xiaomi and PC Home Online, a major local online distributor, yesterday held a joint publicity event to announce the launch of RedMi Note Enhanced Version on the Taiwan market.

Xiaomi co-founder Bin Lin (林斌) said told the United Evening News that PC Home Online, the exclusive RedMi Note Enhanced Version distributor in Taiwan, will accept pre-orders for the budget smartphone range starting from June 20. The new device will be available from June 26 for NT$4,999.

According to Lin, the new Xiaomi RedMi Note has a 5.5-inch screen, the first Xiaomi smartohone to come in that size. Xiaomi's RedMi Note features an octa-core MediaTek MT6592 central processing unit (CPU), 2GB of random access memory (RAM) and 16GB of expandable storage, with Android 4.2 and MIUI running the show.

As mainland-based tipster website GizChina noted, Chinese online retailer Spemall is selling the RedMi Note Enhanced Version for US$169.99, which is nominally higher than the price tag on the Taiwanese market.

Thanks to an low supply of the first batch of Xiaomi RedMi Note Enhanced Version in Taiwan, local media anticipate that Taiwan buyers will gobble up 10,000 RedMi Notephones in just a few minutes.

Simultaneously, Foxconn Technology Group (富士康集團) is set to launch a low-cost smartphone model in China under the brand name InFocus, aiming to challenge China's largest smartphone maker Xiaomi.

Sources said that Foxconn's smartphone would target a high price/performance ratio. It would carry a low price tag but have specifications and functions as good as those of Xiaomi's Hongmi.